Oil-well swab



March 24. 1925.

L. A. GILMORE OIL WELL SWAB Filed Aug. 19. 1924 ffl/lll,

I. mw 28 ao: news Patented Mar. 24, 1925.

LUTHER A Grnnonn or n-ENoYA, oKLAH'oini- OIL-WELL SWAB.

Application led August 19, 1924. VSerial N10. 782,962,

To all whom t may concern:

Be'itknown that I, LUTHER A. GILMORE, a citizen of the United States,and resident of Denoya, in` the county of Osage and State of Oklahoma,havek invented certain new and useful Improve-ments in Oil-VVell Swabs;vand I do hereby dec-lare the following to be a full, clear, and exact`description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the.art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This inventionrelates to means for cleaning oil well casings and hasspecial reference to the means for cleaning the upper section of thecasing, the primary object of the invention being to provide a swabcarrier which may be automatically coupled or released from the ropesocket or tool carrier to be drawn from the well or to remain in thewell and permit the rope socket or tool carrier to be operated in theusual Other incidental objects will appear in the course of thefollowing description, and the invention resides in certain novelfeatures which will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying `drawing in which-Figure 1 is a vertical section of a portion of a well with my improveddevice in position therein;

Figure 2 is a similar View showing the swab released from the ropesocket.

In the drawing, the reference numeral 1 designates a portion of thelower section of the well casing, and 2 designates the upper casingsection which has its 'lower end fitted around the upper end of thesection 1 and coupled or spliced thereto by the collar 3 in the usualmanner.

'Ihe rope socket 4 is hung on the drill rope 5 in any appro-ved mannerand the usual or any desired tools may be, secured to the socket tooperate in the well. The upper end portion of the socket is reduced toprovide an annular seat 6 and above said seat an annular groove orseries of recesses 7 is formed in the socket while the upper cornerportion of the socket is beveled, asI

shown at 8, and a hollow stem 9 rises centrally therefrom to enclose thedrill rope 5 and prevent lateral swaying and consequent wear of thesame.

The swab 10 of rubber or other compressible material encircles a sleeveor tubular stem 11 which rises centrally from a body 12 and is of suchdiameter as to be spaced from the 'stem 9, as. clearly shown. The stem11 may be integral with the body 12 but may be otherwise secured.rigidly thereto', and the body is provided v'with an annular axiallyextending iange 13 o-r other- Wise formed to retain the swab seatedthereon.- Upon the upper end of the stem is mounted a clamping collar 14and nuts 15 whereby the swab may be secured in position and axiallycompressed so as to be circumferentially expanded in an obvious mannerto tit tightly in the casing section 2. The bore of the body 12 at itslower end is fiared, as shown at 16, whereby the body may rest on theseat 6 on the ro-pe socket,l and the lbody is of such diameter thatWhile it may move freely in the casing, when it is lowered its lower endwill eventually impinge'upon the upper end of the collar 3 and arrestthe descent. It will also be noted, upon reference to the drawing, thatthe bore of the body is reduced in its upper portion thereby defining anannular shoulder 17 adapted to seat upon the beveled upper end S-of therope socket. Immediately below the shoulder 17, a series of radial ventopenings 18 are formed ra.- dially through the body for the escape ofas, ockets 19 are formed in the body, the inner ends of the socketsbeing each partly closed by a rim or stop shoulder 20. Latches 21 aremounted in these sockets and their inner ends project through the rims20 in position to engage the groove or recess 7 in the rope socket. Theouter ends of the sockets' or chambers 19 are closed by plugs 22 and thelatches are yieldably held in projected position b springs 23 coiledaround the latches an having their opposite ends bearing respectivelyagainst the plugs and abutments 24 on the latches. Said abutments, bycontact with the rims 20 prevent the latches being ejected from thelatch sockets or chambers when the swab is released from the ropesocket. y v

Whenthe device is being lowered in the well, the latches are inengagement with the groove or recesses 7 that the swab is coupledthereto. When the lower end of the body 12 impinges upon the coupling orsplice collar 3, the weight of the rope socket and the tools carriedthereby willjar the socket free of the latches whereupon theA socket maycontinue to descend in and below the vent openings radial in the ropesocket so l so vly riding into the groove 7.

changing of the rope. it is merely slipped down the rope tothe rope thewell but the swab member will be sto ped and supportedby the couplingcol ar, and it will be noted that the upper and lower walls of thegroove 7 are beveled so that the latches` may easily ride iutoor out ofengagement with the rope Socket. When the rope socket is again raised,the seats 6 and 8 thereon will again en age'the cooperating portions 16and 17 oftlilrxe-:bod so as to lift the body, the latches auton'latical.

The rope socket. may have a swabV body. mounted thereon or securedthereto so that the lower section of the casing may be cleaned. Vhen theswab is not to be used, it .may be raised above the well and secured toa high point of the drill -rope without being removed or necessitating aAcutting or When it is' to used,

socket, the small swab'being coupled in place below the-tools.-

Having fully described my invention what I claim as new and desiretosecure by Letters-Patent, is`z 1. In an oil-wellf appliance, thecombination with a rope-socket, of a swab, and means whereby the swabmay be automatically coupled with or released from vthe ropesocket.

2. The combination of a rope socket, and

a swab removably" coupled thereto and i'n' cluding a body constructed tofit around the upper portion ofthe rope-socket and havassorbe ing a venttherethrough for the escape of gas from between the socket. and thebody.

3. The combination of a rope-socket having a reduced upper bodyconstructed to seat around the upper end ortion of the rope-socket, aswab secure to said body, and latches carried by the body andyicldablyengaging the ropesocket.

1. The combination of a rope-socket having a. circumferential recess inVits upper end rope-socket, an abutment ou the latch within the socket,a plug closing the outer endvof the socket, and a spring coiled aroundthe latch between the plug and the abutment.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification in the presenceot' two sul scribing witnesses. LUTHER A. GILMORE: Witnesses: i

J No. F. PEAcocK, M. A.LIETH.

end portion, a swab

